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Rabbid (Character)
Rabbids are fictional characters of the Rayman series and Rabbids series first appearing in Rayman Raving Rabbids then appearing in the 2 sequels, Raving Rabbids 2 and TV Party and the had their own games, Rabbids Go Home, Travel in Time and Alive and Kicking. Raving Rabbids The Raving Rabbid series, known in France as The Lapins Crétins, is a spinoff series of Rayman which consists mainly of party games, though also includes some platform games. The series focus on crazy large rabbits known as Rabbids, who like to cause havoc and mischief and are best known for yelling "BWAAAAAAAH!" whenever they experience adrenaline rushes. Though initially shown as part of the Rayman series of games, the popularity of the characters, aided by various viral videos and media appearances, led Raving Rabbids to become its own separate franchise, dropping the Rayman name as of 2009's Rabbids Go Home. In October 2010, Ubisoft and Aardman announced a partnership to produce a TV series pilot and several shorts based on the franchise. One year later, it was announced that 78 7-minute CG animated episodes will be made solely by Ubisoft Motion Pictures, and broadcasted as 26 half-hour episodes by Nickelodeon beginning in 2013. The Rabbids have made several appearances in non-Rayman games as well, such as Red Steel, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Smash-Up, and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction. The song "Here Comes The Hotstepper" in Just Dance 2 includes a rabbid who attempts to dance with the choreographer. There has also been a Raving Rabbids themed version of the card game Jungle Speed which was released in France. *''Rayman Raving Rabbids'' *''Rayman Raving Rabbids 2'' *''Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party'' *''Rabbids Go Home'' *''Raving Rabbids: Travel in Time'' *''Rabbids 3D'' *''Raving Rabbids: Alive & Kicking'' ''Development of Rayman 4/Creation'' The earliest Rayman 4 trailers depicted menacing and zombie-like rabbits, simply appearing from underground with a blank stare in various shapes and forms, smaller eyes and furry. At this point, trailers showed the game as an adventure game with fight stages, where Rayman would need to punch and kick himself kung fu style through a horde of zombie-bunnies. As the game concept evolved, from one of a central objective to minigames, and viral videos were created, the rabbits slowly evolved into the Rabbid figures, which were much more conscious and amusing, changing from merely being enemies to fight through into more memorable characters with various traits and quirks. Rayman creator Michel Ancel described the bunnies as "vicious, but at the same time ... totally stupid". In a recent video review, project lead Loïc Gounon confirmed the possibility of splitting the Rayman and Rabbid series apart, mentioning that the Rabbids seem to appeal more to younger gamers, due to its slapstick humor and minigames deviating from the Rayman series' more fantasy-oriented gameplay. Reception The Rabbids from the Raving Rabbids series became massively popular both through the teaser trailers and the game itself.IGN has stated that the Rabbids have "more personality and charisma than 10 of the most popular video game mascots combined", and that the bunnies have literally "upstaged Rayman himself". GameSpot has noted, "The Rabbids themselves are almost exclusively responsible for the game's humor, as they are, without a doubt, hysterical. They're adorably designed, with their dumb stares, high-pitched shrieks, and a penchant for taking comedic bumps."''There has been speculation by reviewers that the success of the Rabbid character will probably inspire the developers to create more games of the franchise, possibly even without Rayman. This was first hinted in the launch trailer of the first game, where Rayman, despite being the title character, only appears for a fraction of a second, only to be squashed flat by a couch taken over by the bunnies, and became evident in ''Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, in which case Rayman disguises himself as a Rabbid, causing the game to put more emphasis on them than on Rayman himself. This was then proven to be true with the announcement of Rabbids Go Home.